An Honored Privilege
by Bren Gail
Summary: Anderson would have rather do hand-to-hand combat against Morgan than hear Seaver gloat about her time with the elite BAU team. Seaver learns a lesson about fidelity, bravery, integrity, and respect. Entry to CCOAC The Times Are Changing Mini-Challenge


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**This story is a response of sorts to the CCOAC The Times Are Changing Mini-Challenge**

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><p><em><strong>An Honored Privilege<strong>_

Agent Anderson was in need of caffeine and he wanted it now.

Alas, he was currently waiting four deep in line at the coffee shop not far from the FBI Academy.

He checked his watch for the fourth time since stepping into the line.

Really, did the coffee shop's management not recognize that they needed to open a second cashier and/or add another barista?

Did the woman currently being served have to dig through her purse to get the exact change when she held a twenty-dollar bill in her left hand?

Did he have to continue to listen to the superior tone that Seaver always used? He would have rather do hand-to-hand combat against SSA Derek Morgan that hear Seaver gloat about her time with the elite BAU team.

"Yeah, Paula, I know, I was so lucky to work with them. Not many people are considered after all and I was recruited from the Academy."

Wait.

Why was he still hearing Seaver in his thoughts? The annoying chit had been transferred months ago from the Unit to the FBI Academy Administrative Office until further investigations proved that she was deemed useful elsewhere. He had not thought of her since he had professionally wished her the best yet he had only moments ago heard her clearly. This meant that she was here at this coffee shop using her superior tone as she spoke about the BAU team.

Anderson scanned the coffee shop for Seaver and found her talking on her mobile on the other side of the partition that was to his left several yards away. He glanced at his watch again and groaned at the fifteen minutes that he had been standing in line and the fact that Seaver continued to talk.

"Yes, Paula, I realize that Dr. Reid was recruited by some crazy AWOL dude, Gordon?" She paused. "Yeah, Gideon, whatever, doesn't matter. Reid's a freak. The unit needed someone to fit the Unsub-in-waiting quota." Pause. "Well," She huffed. "Fine, I was the first in seven years that the Unit recruited." Pause. "It matters to me." Pause. "Fine, I gotta go."

"Bitch," Seaver claimed after she placed her phone down on the table in front of her.

He had listened to quite enough of her holier-than-thou tone and comments. He abandoned his quest for caffeine for a quest in favor of dethroning Seaver off the pedestal that she had placed herself. She had since picked her phone back off the table and had been texting someone when he had slid into the chair directly across from her at the same table.

"Agent Andrews," Seaver stated in surprise.

"It's Anderson, Seaver." He corrected before he continued in an even tone, but the words that he spoke were cruel. "So, how's life outside of the BAU?"

She tensed before she snarled, "Peachy."

He grinned at her discomfort before he randomly asked. "Do you know what the FBI stands for?"

"Yes," She retorted angered that he had thrown the fact that she was no longer apart of the BAU in her face. "Most everyone knows that it stands for the Federal Bureau of Investigations."

"Wrong." He declared. "That is what acronym stands for, but the organization stands by and upholds Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity. Something that you should have studied harder at the Academy, however seeing that I am your superior in rank, I feel the need to give you a crash course in it."

She flinched before she pursed her lips. "Anderson, I do not have the time for this lovely chat. My lunch break is almost over. I have to return to the Academy and,"

Anderson interrupted her. "Your files are not going anywhere."

Scandalized she snarled. "Filing is just as important as working in the field."

"Seaver, I have no issue with you now being a Clerical Agent. It is a perfectly respectful career. If you had done your homework about the BAU Agents as a whole instead of only the ones that you had wanted to impress in which you failed at and made yourself look like a fool, you would have found that I started out as a Clerical Agent."

She interrupted him in a haughtier voice than he had ever heard her use. "Ah, now we get to the reason why you feel the need to give me a crash course. Does this crash course have anything to do with the fact that I took your coveted spot on the elite team?" She laughed. "Too damn bad, Agent Anderson, I got it straight from the Academy when you've been there how long?"

"Honey, this has nothing do with me and everything to do with you and the haughty comments that you made months ago as a Cadet to the time you transferred, and the ones that you just made to your friend Paula."

"Do not call me honey!" She hatefully remanded. "I am a Special Agent and should not be treated in such a demeaning way."

He leveled a cool gaze over her that made her shrink back into her chair. "Special Agent Seaver, I see that your Supervisory was stripped from your rank when they transferred you out of the Unit after the Committee deemed that you were promoted entirely too soon whereas I was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent within due time before you had even entered the Academy."

She swallowed and glared at him. She would not cry again over that loss of superiority. She paused in her self-pity then in realization of what he said, she chortled and rolled her eyes. "Anderson, if you were a SSA, you would have been assigned to the elite team and not some Cadet."

"See Seaver," He stated. "This is what I do not understand or like about you. You have do not respect what the FBI is about and you sure as hell do not know what it is about. You couldn't handle it in the field so the Senate Committee deemed that you would be best in an administrative role until further investigation."

She interjected. "That is not what the committee said."

"Seaver, I was there, the entire BAU department was, but more importantly, I was there during all the cases that you consulted then worked on. Agent Rossi held your damn hand during your entire time with the elite BAU team. He was the only reason you were there."

"Agent Hotchner and Agent Prentiss," She was prevented from continuing her comment as he interrupted her.

"Agent Hotchner allowed you on his team, because his once mentor and now friend asked him to give you a chance. Agent Prentiss felt sorry for you, because she knew what it was like to be a part of the elite team, but still be on the outskirts, because you did not yet truly belong."

"Everyone loves and respects Prentiss." Seaver stated not believing what he was telling her.

"They now do, yes, but she had to earn their trust, before she was fully embraced. I was there, Seaver. I have been in the background and shadow of the BAU elite for almost ten years."

"Why did she have to earn their trust?" Seaver asked confused.

"It was very complicated," He stated not wanting to admit his biggest mistake to Seaver. "But the crust of it was that she immediately replaced an Agent that had been a part of the team for years."

"I didn't replace anyone." She stated confused before she haughtily added. "They created a position for me."

He leveled her yet another cool gaze, before he replied. "I am positive that it was no one's intention to have you replace anyone, but the team had just lost JJ to the state department. So in all intents of the purpose they did try to replace her with you, but it did not work. You didn't have the experience or the skill to replace her which was not your fault, but it is the truth."

"I still do not understand how you are an SSA." Seaver stated sincerely confused. "The team always seemed to look down upon you."

"Noticed that did you?" He smiled wryly before he explained to Seaver something that she should have known since she had claimed to research the BAU during her time at the Academy. "Seaver, the BAU has 25 SSA along with a support staff of administrative and technical professionals. The Unit is broken down into four groups; Child, Adult, Counter Terrorism, and then the Unit Chief's elite team." He paused and satisfied that she was listening to him instead of blocking him out, he continued. "Hotch's team splits their time focusing on all aspects of cases, whereas the other three team focus on their specific one. Each team is assigned a SSAC, four profilers of SSA rank, one media liaison of SSA rank, and one analyst, although Garcia tends to frequently be on loan to all the unit."

"That's 24 SSA's not 25." She corrected.

He added. "And the one that is the financial liaison for the entire unit."

"You?" She scoffed in disbelief. "You're in charge of the entire BAU's financials."

"No. The SSAC of each team are in charge of their respective team, but ultimately Hotch is in charge if the entire unit. I am the liaison between the SSAC's, the accounting department, and him. Hotch deals with Chief Strauss and sometimes the Brass."

"That is an important role." Seaver stated stupidly.

"Yes." He agreed, as it was true.

"Why do you let Morgan bully you around?" She asked perplexed that such an important role was not flaunted. "Why don't you let Morgan know what you do?"

He scoffed. "Seaver, did you really not research the team?" He paused for her to answer, but she meekly shook her head no. "The year before you consulted with the team, Morgan was an acting SSAC for a few months. He knows what I do, but I know what he does. If by ribbing me makes him forget about what he sees every day, then yeah, he can rib me for as long as we continue to work together. I am not about flaunting superiority and I never have been. I am about upholding the FBI's values, laws, and policies. I am now about teamwork, hard work, and respecting others. At the end of the day, unless you are the Unit Chief or higher, it does not matter what rank you are, as long as the job was done competently and in a timely manner."

"What's the point in working at the FBI and not wanting to climb the ranks?" She asked still perplexed.

"I never said that I did not believe in climbing the ranks, because I have and I continue to eventually do so. However, what I said about it not mattering about what rank you are, does not collate to every aspect of the job. It does matter. It matters a great deal, because when you are talking to or about a superior, you must give them respect. I try now to give everyone the right to respect, but particularly superior ranked individuals and groups."

"I respect people." She retorted weakly.

"Seaver," He stated pointedly as if daring her to deny it again. "I have heard you demean, disrespect, taunt, and belittle many people, not only during your time with the Unit, but just now. Within a few sentences, you disrespected not only a higher ranked agent, but also one that is an irreplaceable asset not only to the team, but also to the Bureau. Dr. Reid was extraordinary from the time he entered the Academy. I remember, I was in his class. Then, you disrespect a legendary pioneer of the BAU, but a man, Jason Gideon, that I came to know and respect not because of his rank or experience, but his knowledge, how he treated people, and how he gave second chances when they were deserved. What happened to him was horrific and he did not simply go AWOL as you said when you were talking to your friend, he resigned from his post, in order to grasp to what little humanity he had left."

"I'm sorry." She stated quietly.

"You should be, but I'm not finished. Each time you've done any of the things that I've said, you've showed your disloyalty, cowardice, and ignorance against the core values of the Bureau." He paused. "You thought that with the BAU you could forget what your father did to his victims."

She interrupted him. "What do you know of my father?"

Bemused, he quirked his right eyebrow. "Enough." He answered before he continued. "The BAU was supposed to be your ticket to stardom. You craved attention of your superiors, because of your daddy complex, but naively you did not know what to do with it once you got it, so you started to flaunt what you thought would have impressed them. I felt sorry for you Seaver, because I was where you are," He paused when he saw her look of disbelief. He continued. "I really did feel sorry for you, but no longer. Stop disrespecting and flaunting what you do not have. Go back to the basics and start over afresh. Rossi was right, you do have potential, but don't let it fester and waste on your ignorance, disrespect, and your irritating superiority complex."

He looked up over her shoulder and over the partition and noticed that the line to the only opened cashier now had one person in line. He stood and stated. "Your time with the BAU was an honored privilege that you did not deserve or understand, but change your attitude and work hard and perhaps you'll get that opportunity again."

"Thank you." She replied thoroughly chastised and now thoughtful of what he had said.

"You are welcome, Special Agent Seaver, good day." He stated before he walked over to the cashier and ordered his coffee, paid, received his change, and finally received what he had needed. Caffeine.

He sighed as he took a sip of the dark hot liquid and hoped that what he had said to Seaver had penetrated through her haughty armor and into the mind of the scared young woman that hid behind it.

After all, it had been his honored privilege to be able to give her a talk about respect just as SSAC Jason Gideon had given him in 2003.


End file.
